Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA)

12-1:30pm

In the 21st century girls and women are as likely as boys and men to be participants in sports. It would be easy to challenge this statement from a media perspective as very few women athletes are seen on television, in sports magazines, on sport-related internet sites or on the sports pages of newspapers. In the world of sport, women are still seen to be intruders in a male domain.

There are exceptions, of course. Women athletes who are especially beautiful are welcomed in various media outlets - particularly if they are scantily clad and gazing into the camera with the come-hither expression of a sex kitten. The sexualization of women athletes is not a new phenomenon. The physical appearance of women athletes has been the most frequently used aspect of publicity regarding women and sport for over a century. The beauty (and, therefore, the assumed heterosexuality) of the female athlete has been used to legitimize women's participation in a seemingly masculine activity.

Over the decades, as women athletes have gotten greater opportunities to train and compete in sport, their level of performance has increased to the point that many women athletes equal the skill and physicality of many men athletes. One push-back to this increasing excellence of women athletes is for them to 'prove' that they are women. Reducing the woman athlete to a heterosexually attractive body is one method of 'allowing' women to be participants in the traditionally masculine domain of sport.

Speaker: Dayna Daniels, Ph.D.

Dayna Daniels is a professor at The University of Lethbridge in the departments of Women's Studies and Kinesiology and Physical Education. As a lifelong participant in sport, she has lived and studied the differences that exist between females and males in accessing and participating in sport and physical activities. Her recent book, Polygendered and Ponytailed: The Dilemma of Femininity and the Female Athlete, investigates the historical and contemporary barriers that keep girls and women from achieving excellence in many areas of the sporting world - most particularly the focus on their requisite presentation of femininity and heterosexuality.

Dr. Daniels is an advocate for girls and women in sport and physical activity. She has served on the board of CAAWS - the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity.

12-1:30pm

In the 21st century girls and women are as likely as boys and men to be participants in sports. It would be easy to challenge this statement from a media perspective as very few women athletes are seen on television, in sports magazines, on sport-related internet sites or on the sports pages of newspapers. In the world of sport, women are still seen to be intruders in a male domain.

There are exceptions, of course. Women athletes who are especially beautiful are welcomed in various media outlets - particularly if they are scantily clad and gazing into the camera with the come-hither expression of a sex kitten. The sexualization of women athletes is not a new phenomenon. The physical appearance of women athletes has been the most frequently used aspect of publicity regarding women and sport for over a century. The beauty (and, therefore, the assumed heterosexuality) of the female athlete has been used to legitimize women's participation in a seemingly masculine activity.

Over the decades, as women athletes have gotten greater opportunities to train and compete in sport, their level of performance has increased to the point that many women athletes equal the skill and physicality of many men athletes. One push-back to this increasing excellence of women athletes is for them to 'prove' that they are women. Reducing the woman athlete to a heterosexually attractive body is one method of 'allowing' women to be participants in the traditionally masculine domain of sport.

Speaker: Dayna Daniels, Ph.D.

Dayna Daniels is a professor at The University of Lethbridge in the departments of Women's Studies and Kinesiology and Physical Education. As a lifelong participant in sport, she has lived and studied the differences that exist between females and males in accessing and participating in sport and physical activities. Her recent book, Polygendered and Ponytailed: The Dilemma of Femininity and the Female Athlete, investigates the historical and contemporary barriers that keep girls and women from achieving excellence in many areas of the sporting world - most particularly the focus on their requisite presentation of femininity and heterosexuality.

Dr. Daniels is an advocate for girls and women in sport and physical activity. She has served on the board of CAAWS - the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity.

The sexual scandals of some priests in the Roman Catholic Church make big news but are extremely distressing to the faithful. The Roman Catholics are not alone in their distress though. Nearly every religious institution in Canada has faced the fallibility of their human leaders. Some formerly faithful people claim the scandals have pushed them away from organized religions and we have seen church attendance plummet over the last few decades. There is no question that the sexual crimes of clergy must be punished, but can the exposure of these failures of the clergy and administration ultimately be good for religion?

The speaker will argue that it is good the problem is now being exposed because it reveals the truth about human nature: power corrupts most of us. The sexual crimes of clergy and the scandals about their cover up have forced the churches to examine the power of the clergy and the role of the church hierarchy. Those same scandals have convinced the majority of people to pull the clergy class and the church hierarchy down from the false pedestal they have stood on for many centuries. No human should have so much power over another that these crimes can be perpetrated.

Speaker: Tadashi Mitsui (Tad)

Tad was born in Japan, did his undergraduate education in Theology in Tokyo and his graduate work in Vancouver and Montreal. He taught at a university in Lesotho, Southern Africa, worked in international development agencies in Geneva, Switzerland, and in Toronto, and was in an administrative position within the United Church bureaucracy in Montreal. Tad is a retired United Church minister.

The sexual scandals of some priests in the Roman Catholic Church make big news but are extremely distressing to the faithful. The Roman Catholics are not alone in their distress though. Nearly every religious institution in Canada has faced the fallibility of their human leaders. Some formerly faithful people claim the scandals have pushed them away from organized religions and we have seen church attendance plummet over the last few decades. There is no question that the sexual crimes of clergy must be punished, but can the exposure of these failures of the clergy and administration ultimately be good for religion?

The speaker will argue that it is good the problem is now being exposed because it reveals the truth about human nature: power corrupts most of us. The sexual crimes of clergy and the scandals about their cover up have forced the churches to examine the power of the clergy and the role of the church hierarchy. Those same scandals have convinced the majority of people to pull the clergy class and the church hierarchy down from the false pedestal they have stood on for many centuries. No human should have so much power over another that these crimes can be perpetrated.

Speaker: Tadashi Mitsui (Tad)

Tad was born in Japan, did his undergraduate education in Theology in Tokyo and his graduate work in Vancouver and Montreal. He taught at a university in Lesotho, Southern Africa, worked in international development agencies in Geneva, Switzerland, and in Toronto, and was in an administrative position within the United Church bureaucracy in Montreal. Tad is a retired United Church minister.

Omar Khadr was captured by American Forces in July 2002 in Afghanistan following a firefight between Afghani insurgents and US soldiers. Severely wounded by two M-16 bullets in his back, Khadr, who was just 15 at the time, was flown to Bagram airbase where he was treated for his injuries and later subjected to “enhanced interrogation techniques” before being transported to the notorious US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The US government deemed Khadr an “enemy combatant” in 2002 which allowed US military interrogators to use “enhanced techniques” on the teenager that are described by various human rights groups as forms of torture that would otherwise be banned under the Geneva Conventions. Khadr’s “enemy combatant” status also allowed an American military tribunal to prosecute the young Canadian for war crimes despite being defined as a child soldier by the United Nations. Khadr is the only child soldier ever to be tried for war crimes.

Khadr languished in Guantanamo Bay for eight years before pleading guilty to five war crimes charges in October 2010 including murder for allegedly throwing a grenade in the 2002 firefight that killed a US soldier. Khadr’s Canadian lawyer, Dennis Edney, have suggested that the Canadian still maintains his innocence and only agreed to the guilty plea so he could be repatriated to Canada. Despite urgings from the US government and several rulings by Canadian Courts, the Canadian government refused on multiple occasions to seek the repatriation of Khadr to Canada. Canada is the only western nation that did not seek and receive the return of one of its citizens from the Guantanamo Bay prison. In January 2010, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled that the failure of the Canadian government to seek Khadr’s return to Canada was a violation of his Charter rights.

Speaker: Dennis Edney

Originally from Dundee, Scotland, Dennis Edney is a Canadian defence lawyer based in Edmonton, Alberta noted for his involvement in many high-profile and complicated cases, including being the defence lawyer for Abdullah and Omar Khadr, who were captured in the War on Terror, and for Fahim Ahmad in the 2010 Toronto terrorism case. Mr. Edney has appeared in all levels of Canadian courts, including landmark Supreme Court cases: Canada (Minister of Justice)v. Khadr 2008 S.C.C. Canada (Prime Minister)v. Khadr 2009 S.C.C. and as well The Queen v. Fahim Ahmad 2010 SCC

Mr. Edney was granted standing to file an amicus brief before the United States Supreme Court, in Rasul v. Bush, 2002. He was also appointed as Foreign Attorney Consultant by the U.S. Pentagon to participate in the Military Commission trial of Omar Khadr, a young Canadian detained in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Dennis Edney received the prestigious 2008 National Pro Bono Award, and is the recipient of the 2009 Human Rights Medal, awarded by the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, for work that has helped promote and further human rights.

Omar Khadr was captured by American Forces in July 2002 in Afghanistan following a firefight between Afghani insurgents and US soldiers. Severely wounded by two M-16 bullets in his back, Khadr, who was just 15 at the time, was flown to Bagram airbase where he was treated for his injuries and later subjected to “enhanced interrogation techniques” before being transported to the notorious US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The US government deemed Khadr an “enemy combatant” in 2002 which allowed US military interrogators to use “enhanced techniques” on the teenager that are described by various human rights groups as forms of torture that would otherwise be banned under the Geneva Conventions. Khadr’s “enemy combatant” status also allowed an American military tribunal to prosecute the young Canadian for war crimes despite being defined as a child soldier by the United Nations. Khadr is the only child soldier ever to be tried for war crimes.

Khadr languished in Guantanamo Bay for eight years before pleading guilty to five war crimes charges in October 2010 including murder for allegedly throwing a grenade in the 2002 firefight that killed a US soldier. Khadr’s Canadian lawyer, Dennis Edney, have suggested that the Canadian still maintains his innocence and only agreed to the guilty plea so he could be repatriated to Canada. Despite urgings from the US government and several rulings by Canadian Courts, the Canadian government refused on multiple occasions to seek the repatriation of Khadr to Canada. Canada is the only western nation that did not seek and receive the return of one of its citizens from the Guantanamo Bay prison. In January 2010, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled that the failure of the Canadian government to seek Khadr’s return to Canada was a violation of his Charter rights.

Speaker: Dennis Edney

Originally from Dundee, Scotland, Dennis Edney is a Canadian defence lawyer based in Edmonton, Alberta noted for his involvement in many high-profile and complicated cases, including being the defence lawyer for Abdullah and Omar Khadr, who were captured in the War on Terror, and for Fahim Ahmad in the 2010 Toronto terrorism case. Mr. Edney has appeared in all levels of Canadian courts, including landmark Supreme Court cases: Canada (Minister of Justice)v. Khadr 2008 S.C.C. Canada (Prime Minister)v. Khadr 2009 S.C.C. and as well The Queen v. Fahim Ahmad 2010 SCC

Mr. Edney was granted standing to file an amicus brief before the United States Supreme Court, in Rasul v. Bush, 2002. He was also appointed as Foreign Attorney Consultant by the U.S. Pentagon to participate in the Military Commission trial of Omar Khadr, a young Canadian detained in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Dennis Edney received the prestigious 2008 National Pro Bono Award, and is the recipient of the 2009 Human Rights Medal, awarded by the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, for work that has helped promote and further human rights.

Some 1,370,000 acres are assessed for irrigation among thirteen irrigation districts in Southern Alberta. In addition, approximately 280,000 acres are assessed for irrigation outside the irrigation districts. Irrigation waters are however used for much more than growing food. Irrigation infrastructure provides water for many communities and is essential to much of the commerce, industry, wildlife, wetlands and recreation in Southern Alberta.

Increasing demand for food production and economic growth will provide challenges for the irrigation industry. The speaker will explain how efficiency gains have occurred in irrigation districts delivery systems and farm application methods. The myth of charging for water in an attempt to increase efficiencies or to stimulate production of value added crops will also be discussed.

How will crop trends be affected by climate change? Is the production of biofuels a wise use of irrigation water? Will the demand for irrigation water in Southern Alberta be great enough to justify inter-basin transfer from Northern Alberta?

Speaker: Ron Renwick

Ron Renwick was born and raised on a mixed farm on the Regina Plains of Southern Saskatchewan. He obtained a degree in Agricultural Engineering from University of Saskatchewan in 1972, after which he worked three years at the Hydrology Branch of Saskatchewan Department of Environment and eight years at Ducks Unlimited Canada.

Ron started work at the St Mary River Irrigation District (SMRID) in 1983, first as District Engineer and later as General Manager (2002). Included in Ron’s responsibilities was to manage Irrican Power, SMRID’s three hydro electric plants. He retired in 2009. Ron has served terms as Director for the Alberta Irrigation Projects Association and the Oldman Watershed Council. He is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta.

Many of our contemporary global tensions pit Christian and Islamic nations against one another. Each camp often views the other with deep distrust and even hatred. At least that is what the media repeatedly tell us. How urgent that we talk to one another – with respect and careful listening. How appropriate that we have this conversation as Christians yearn for peace at Christmas time.

This topic will feature a Christian and a Muslim in conversation about the great matters of faith – the scriptures, God, evil, violence, the place of women, radical fundamentalists, and more. And even better, you will be able to ask your questions of both.

Speakers: Shukrulla Khan and Brenda Kersell

Shukrulla Kahn is a local Muslim and business man. He was born in Bangalore, India, taught Islamic sign design in Saudi Arabia, and came to Lethbridge seven years ago. He is also the president of the local Muslim faith community. He is married to Shamshad Khan and is father to 2 boys (12 & 6) and a baby girl (1 Mo.). He is the owner of SK SIGNS and is a person of deep faith.

Brenda Kersell is a local United Church of Canada minister (at First United Church). She arrived in this community this past July 1, after serving seven years in Red Deer. She has also lived and served in several prairie communities. A teacher before gong into ministry, she is the proud mother of Graeme and is also a person of deep faith.

Many of our contemporary global tensions pit Christian and Islamic nations against one another. Each camp often views the other with deep distrust and even hatred. At least that is what the media repeatedly tell us. How urgent that we talk to one another – with respect and careful listening. How appropriate that we have this conversation as Christians yearn for peace at Christmas time.

This topic will feature a Christian and a Muslim in conversation about the great matters of faith – the scriptures, God, evil, violence, the place of women, radical fundamentalists, and more. And even better, you will be able to ask your questions of both.

Speakers: Shukrulla Khan and Brenda Kersell

Shukrulla Kahn is a local Muslim and business man. He was born in Bangalore, India, taught Islamic sign design in Saudi Arabia, and came to Lethbridge seven years ago. He is also the president of the local Muslim faith community. He is married to Shamshad Khan and is father to 2 boys (12 & 6) and a baby girl (1 Mo.). He is the owner of SK SIGNS and is a person of deep faith.

Brenda Kersell is a local United Church of Canada minister (at First United Church). She arrived in this community this past July 1, after serving seven years in Red Deer. She has also lived and served in several prairie communities. A teacher before gong into ministry, she is the proud mother of Graeme and is also a person of deep faith.

The mission of the Law Society of Alberta is to serve the public interest by promoting a high standard of legal services and professional conduct through the governance and regulation of an independent legal profession.

This discussion will focus on why and how the regulator of the legal profession is involved in promoting access to high quality legal services in Alberta.

Topics to be discussed will include the delivery of legal services by non-lawyers, the delivery of legal services pro bono (for free), the use of limited scope retainers, promotion of diversity in the legal profession, recognition of foreign trained lawyers, and the retention and re-engagement of lawyers in the private practice of law.

Speaker: Rodney Jerke Q.C.

Rodney Jerke was born in Edmonton, Alberta in 1955. He graduated from the University of Lethbridge with a Bachelor of Science Degree, with Distinction and then from the University of Alberta with an LLB, with Distinction. He was admitted to the Alberta Bar in 1980 and appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1998.

Professionally, Rodney Jerke’s practice is concentrated on civil litigation at trial and appellate levels. He has conducted numerous trials and appeals and handled a variety of litigation files, including land disputes, serious motor vehicle accidents, commercial disputes, constitutional and administrative law cases, fraudulent preference and fraud actions, foreclosure, bank litigation, insurance litigation, environmental claims and professional negligence claims.